Protective garment



Oct. 27, 1964 J. A. BREWER 3,153,864

PROTECTIVE GARMENT Filed Oct. 15,

I NVEN TOR. /05 1% 52 1/0;

United States Patent 3,153,864 PROTECTIVE GARMENT Jess A. Brewer, 700 Garfield Blvd., Danville, ill. Filed Oct. 15, 1962, Ser. No. 230,552 4 Claims. (Cl. 36-2) The present invention relates to protective garments and, more particularly, to an improved protective legging suitable for use in industrial and other hazardous locations.

it is a general aim of the present invention to provide an improved protective legging characterized by its ability to provide greater and more effective protection for the lower leg and foot of the wearer than has heretofore been possible.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved spring-type protective legging characterized by the fact that the legging is adjustable in size and, when in place on the leg, permits of overlap in either direction at the rear thereof, thus insuring full wrap-around protection without a gap and without requiring the use of a flap or other auxiliary gap closure.

In this connection, it is an object of the invention to provide a wrap-around protective legging which is free of gap closure flaps on either of its overlapping edges, thus insuring that when the legging is applied to the wearers leg, it cannot be put on incorrectly with a folded-over flap that results in discomfort, or with a loosely projecting flap that might be caught in industrial equipment or the like.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved spring-type protective legging which can be applied to either leg, is more comfortable when worn than prior leggings, and which does not employ any sharp or inwardly projecting metallic parts that tend to bite into the leg.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide an improved spring-type protective legging which employs a separable, and thus readily replaceable, cover and spring frame, yet which is characterized by the fact that the coupling elements employed for securing the components together are located on the inner surface of the legging, thus leaving the outer exposed surface of the legging free of any metallic fasteners which might tend to convey heat, electric current, or the like, through the cover to the frame and thence to the wearer.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a protective legging embodying the features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevation of a portion of the interior surface of the exemplary cover used with the legging shown in FIG. 1, here illustrating the cover prior to assembly with its supporting spring frame;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a pair of protective leggings embodying the features of the present invention, illustrating particularly the overlapping gapless rear portions of the leggings when placed on the legs of the wearer;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the legging shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the spring frame used with the legging shown in FIG. 1, here shown with the cover removed; and,

FIG. 6 is an axial half-section taken substantially along the line 6fi of FIG. 5.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative forms, an illustrative embodiment thereof has been shown in the drawing and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that "ice it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed but, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawing, there is illustrated in HO. 1 a protective legging, generally indicated at 10, embodying the present invention and which is here shown placed on the leg 11 of the wearer. The legging 10 includes a tailored cover 12 (FIGS. 1 and 2) which is mounted on a frame, generally indicated at 14 (FIGS. 5 and 6). it will be understood as the ensuing description proceeds that the cover 12 may be made of a wide variety of materials dependent upon the particular environment or environments in which the legging 10 is to be used. Merely by way of example, the cover 12 may be formed of asbestos, chrome leather, duck or other woven fabric materials. Moreover, such materials may be uncoated or, alternatively, they may be coated (for example, with plastic or other coating material) to render them more resistant to corrosive liquids or other deleterious environmental objects.

in keeping with the exemplary form of the invention, the supporting frame 14 for the cover 12 includes a plurality of generally parallel, vertically disposed, spaced strips which are interconnected by at least one horizontally disposed band. As best illustrated by reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 conjointiy, it will be noted that the exemplary frame includes five such vertical strips (a pair of relatively long strips 15a, a pair of intermediate length strips 15b, and a single short strip and two vertically spaced horizontal bands 161:, 161. The bands 16a, 16l are made or" spring material and are preformed into generally circular configurations with the oppositely disposed ends of each band overlapping. While it is not critical to the present invention the strips may also be made of spring metal.

For the purpose of supporting the cover in a generally cylindrical configuration suitable for encompassing the wearers leg, the respective midpoints of the two bands 16a, Kl are rigidly secured to the opposite ends of strip 15c. One outermost strip 15a is rigidly coupled intermediate its ends to one end of each of the bands 1611, 161 while the other strip 15a is similarly coupled to the opposite end of each of the bands 16a, lfil. The strips 15b are respectively interposed between the strip 15c and the strips 15a with the upper end of each strip 15b rigidly secured to the band 16:: by rivets 18. Each strip 15b is riveted at a point spaced above its lower end to the lower band 161. The arrangement is such that the strips 15a include portions 15a extending below the band 161 and portions 15a extending above the band 1611, while the strips 15b also include portions 15b extending below band 16!. Since the bands 1611, 161 each have a generally circular configuration with overlapping ends, the skeletonized frame 14 has a generally cylindrical configuration which may be readily sprung open to permit insertion of the wearers leg. The spring bands 16:1, 161 will then return to their normally unstressed overlapping state, thus completely encompassing the leg. Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the lower band 161 may either be shorter than the upper band 161: or it may be preformed into a smaller diameter circle, thus tapering the frame 14- inwardly in the region of the ankle so as to more snugly fit about the leg.

In carrying out the present invention, the cover 12 is formed of a plurality of panels of material, for example, asbestos. The main panel 19 (FIG. 2) is generally rectangular in shape and is provided with an arcuate cut-out portion 29 adjacent its lower edge adapted to fit around the upper or instep portion of the foot. A

3 forwardly extending flare 21 is cut to mate with the cutout portion and is sewn to the panel 19 by suitable: stitches as indicated at 22. The flare 21 extends over the shoe 24 (FIG. 1) and provides protection therefor.

To enhance the protective characteristics of the flare 21, there is provided a metallic strap (not shown) which is pocketed in the flare and which tends to hold the flare securely against the foot. To this end, a separate panel (FIG. 2) is sewed to the inner surface of the flare by stitches indicated at 26, the panel 25 defining with the flare 21 a pocket for reception of the metallic strap. The flare 21 may also include a double thickness of material at its forward end for added protection. Of course, in certain instances it may be desirable to form the Hare 21 from material different than that employed for the main cover panel '19. Merely by way of example, the flare could be made of rubber or the like.

For the purpose of preventing ingress of sparks, chips or the like into the upper end of the legging 10, a pair of panels 28a, 28b are sewn to the upper edge of panel 19 by stitches 29. To insure a tuckedin tailored top that snugly fits about the leg, the abutting edges of the panels 28a, 28b are cut on the bias and then stitched tog'ether as shown :at '30. Thus, as best shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the upper edge of the legging defines a considerably smaller circle than does the upper edge of panel sitioned to mate with the male members on the vertical marginal cover portions, and a seventh female member 46 at the upper end of strip 150 positioned to mate with 7 the male member 45 carried by the piece of material 48.

In assembling the cover 12 and frame -14, it is simply necessary to insert the downwardly projecting portions 15a, 15b of strips 15a, 15b into the respective pockets 36, 41 formed on the cover 12. The upwardly extending portions 15a" of the strips 15a are then inserted into the pockets 40 and the now alined male and female 7 coupling members 45, 46 at the upper end of strip 150 19, thereby preventing material from falling into the space between the legging 10 and leg 11.

In accordance with one of the important aspects of the present invention, provision is made for separably coupling the cover 12 and the frame 14 together in such a manner that the outer exposed surface of the legging is entirely free of any outwardly exposed metallic fastenor element which extends through both the cover and the frame, while at the same time insuring that the outermost frame strips 15a and the opposite ends of the bands 1611, 161 are completely encased within the soft cover material so as not to bite into the wearers leg. To accomplish .this, the cover 12 is formed with marginal portions which extend beyond the oppositely disposed edges of the frame -14. Since the vertical halves of the cover 12 are substantially identical, the ensuing description will be confined to only one-half of the cover (e.g., the right half as the cover is viewed in FIG. 2), it being understood that this description is equally applicable to the construction of the other half of the cover.

In the exemplary form of the invention, the panels 19 and 28b are provided with marginal portions 31, 32 respectively which are also sewn together by the stitches 29 The marginal portion 31 of panel 19 is cut inwardly normal to the panel edge (as shown at 34) with that section 31' of the marginal portion 31 located beneath the cut 34 folded over upon the inner surface of panel 19 and sewn thereto by stitches 35. Thus, the section 31 defines with the panel 19 a pocket 36. In like manner, the marginal portion 32 of panel 28b is cut inwardly at 38, with the section 32 located above the cut 38 folded inwardly overthe inner surface of panel 28b and sewn thereto by stitches '39 so as to define with the panel 28b a second pocket 40. Upon inspection of FIG. 2, it will be seen that a third pocket 41 is formed on the inner surface of the right half of cover 12 by sewing thereto an elongate piece of material (e.g., a leather strap 42) with stitches 44.

For the purpose of positively securing the cover 12 t0 the frame 14, there are provided in the exemplary form of the invention a plurality of snap-type coupling devices having male members 45 secured to the cover 12 and projecting inwardly therefrom, and female members 46 secured to the frame 14. The frame snap members 46 also serve to rivet strips 15a to both bands 16a and 161, and the lower end of strip 150 to band 16!. As best shown by reference to 'FIGS; 2 and 6 conjointly, three male coupling members 45 are provided on each verti- Cally disposed marginal cover portion, there, being one :are snapped together. The laterally extending vertical anarginal portions 31, 32 are then wrapped around the .rnedial portion of each strip 15a and the alined male and female coupling members 45, 46 snapped together from the inside of the legging 10.

From the foregoing, and upon inspection of FIGS. 1 and 3, it will be evident that the outer exposed surface of the legging 10 is :free of any fastener element which extends through both the cover 12 and the frame 14. Therefore, there is no possibility that heat, electricity or the like can be transmitted through the protective cover directly to the frame and thence to the leg of the wearer. Moreover, since the male and female coupling members 45, 46 are disposed inwardly of the outer exposed portion of the cover, such coupling members can be mad of a considerably wider range of materials.

In order to put the legging 10 on, the wearer need only spring the overlapping vertical edges 49, 50 (FIG. 4), outwardly, thus enabling the leg 11 to be inserted from the rear of the legging. When the edges 49, 50 are released, the spring bands 16a, 16! (FIG. 6) return to their overlapped state, thus insuring that the legging 10 is completely wrapped around the leg 11 without any gap. Since there is no gap, it is not necessary to provide gap closure flaps on either edge 49, 50 of the legging. Consequently, the legging 10 may be applied to either the left or the right leg (as shown in FIG. 3) with the outermost overlapping edge (edge 50 as shown on the left leg and edge 49 as shown on the right leg) projecting inwardly. In this manner, the possibility of the outermost legging edge being caught on protuberances, equipment or the like is minimized-wet it is not necessary to provide the leggings in pairs with a gap closure flap secured, for example, to edge 49 for the left leg and edge 50 for the right leg. Moreover, since no gap closure flaps are required, the leggings cannot be incorrectly placed on the Wearers leg with a flap folded over, thus causing discomfort for the wearer, or with a flap projecting loosely outward in position to be caught on surrounding equipment or the like.

One of the advantages of the above described protective legging is that it is self-adjusting. That is, the spring bands 1611, 161 are tempered so that the frame 14 will adjust itself to conform generally to the wearers leg.

However, since the strips 15a and the opposite ends of bands 16a, 16l are enclosed with the wrapped-around vertical marginal cover portions 31', 32, there is no tendency for the frame to bite into the leg. It will be appreciated that protective leggings of the type described above are also advantageous since they will establish insulating dead air spaces between the cover 12 and the leg, thus further enhancing the protective characteristics of the legging.

Since the cover 12 and the spring frame 14 are held together simply by pockets and separable coupling elements, the legging may be readily disassembled and either the frame or the cover replaced when they become damaged or worn.

Provision is also made for reinforcing the thread sewn cover panels so as to insure that the legging cover 12 will not be torn apart or otherwise become disassembled. To this end, the sewn overlapping joints are also held together by means of a plurality of clips or staples 51. Since the clips 51 are not connected to the etal frame 14, they may be made, for example, of steel or other suitable metal.

I claim as my invention:

1. A protective legging adapted to be wrapped completely around the leg of a wearer comprising, in combination, a resilient frame made of metallic spring material, said frame having a generally cylindrical configuration in its normal unstressed state with the opposed vertical edges thereof overlapped whereby said frame totally surrounds the wearers leg with said edges overlapped when in place thereon, a protective cover removably mounted on the outer surface of said frame, said cover having marginal portions extending beyond the oppositely disposed edges of said frame, and having the vertically disposed marginal portions wrapped around the vertical edges of said frame, flare means secured to the lower end of said cover and extending forwardly therefrom so as to overlie the wearers foot, the upper marginal portion of said cover tucked in and tailored to snugly contact the wearers leg, and means associated with the marginal portions of said cover for positively and separably coupling said cover and said frame together with the exposed outer surface of the legging entirely free of any outwardly exposed metallic fastener element extending through said cover and said frame.

2. A protective legging adapted to be wrapped completely around one leg of a wearer comprising, in combination, a frame including a plurality of generally parallel spaced vertical strips, resilient generally horizontal spring means interconnecting said spaced vertical strips, said spring means comprising at least one band of spring metal having its oppositely disposed ends respectively secured to the outermost ones of said strips, said band having a generally cylindrical configuration when in its normal unstressed state with its oppositely disposed ends overlapped whereby said band totally surrounds the wearers leg with said ends overlapped when in place thereon, a protective cover removably mounted on the outer surface of said frame, a flare secured to the lower end of said cover and positioned to overlie the wearers foot, said cover having marginal portions extending beyond the outermost ones of said strips, said marginal portions being wrapped around said outermost strips and the oppositely disposed ends of said band, and separable means associated with the marginal portions of said cover for positively and separably coupling said cover and said frame together with the exposed outer surface of the legging entirely free of any outwardly exposed metallic fastener element extending through said cover and said frame.

3. A protective legging adapted to be Wrapped completely around one leg of a wearer comprising, in combination, a frame including a plurality of generally parallel spaced vertical strips, resilient generally horizontal spring means interconnecting said spaced vertical strips, said spring means comprising at least one band of spring metal having its oppositely disposed ends respectively secured to the outermost ones of said strips, said band having a generally cylindrical configuration when in its normal unstressed state with its oppositely disposed ends overlapped whereby said band totally surrounds the wearers leg with said ends overlapped when in place thereon, a protective cover removably mounted on the outer surface of said frame, said cover having marginal portions extending beyond the outermost ones of said strips, said marginal portions being wrapped around said outermost strips and the oppositely disposed ends of said band, and snap-type coupling devices having a male member associated with one of said frame and said cover marginal portion and a female member associated with the other of said frame and said cover marginal portion for positively and separably coupling said cover and said frame together with the exposed outer surface of the legging entirely free of any outwardly exposed metallic fastener element extending through said cover and said fra he.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 3 further characterized in that the oppositely disposed ends of said band are each secured to said outermost strips by means of one of said members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 61,365 Rule Jan. 15, 1867 884,741 Le Bosse Apr. 14, 1908 1,007,076 Dulles Oct. 31, 1911 1,220,806 Wheeler et a1. Mar. 27, 1917 1,708,271 Jensen Apr. 9, 1929 1,708,272 Jensen Apr. 9, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS 142,337 Great Britain May 6, 1920 

1. A PROTECTIVE LEGGING ADAPTED TO BE WRAPPED COMPLETELY AROUND THE LEG OF A WEARER COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A RESILIENT FRAME MADE OF METALLIC SPRING MATERIAL, SAID FRAME HAVING A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL CONFIGURATION IN ITS NORMAL UNSTRESSED STATE WITH THE OPPOSED VERTICAL EDGES THEREOF OVERLAPPED WHEREBY SAID FRAME TOTALLY SURROUNDS THE WEARER''S LEG WITH SAID EDGES OVERLAPPED WHEN IN PLACE THEREON, A PROTECTIVE COVER REMOVABLY MOUNTED ON THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID FRAME, SAID COVER HAVING MARGINAL PORTIONS EXTENDING BEYOND THE OPPOSITELY DISPOSED EDGES OF SAID FRAME, AND HAVING THE VERTICALLY DISPOSED MARGINAL PORTIONS WRAPPED AROUND THE VERTICAL EDGES OF SAID FRAME, FLARE MEANS SECURED TO THE LOWER END OF SAID COVER AND EXTENDING FORWARDLY THEREFROM SO AS TO OVERLIE THE WEARER''S FOOT, THE UPPER MARGINAL PORTION OF SAID COVER TUCKED IN AND TAILORED TO SNUGLY CONTACT 